We have 5 Google Nest Cameras (3x version 1 and 2x version 2). All cameras worked fine before migrating to Alta equipment, but are very inconsistent now.
They were originally joined to an IOT network with some Google Nest speakers, Chromecasts and various lights. The cameras worked some of the time, but regularly showed as offline in the Google Home app. I recently changed the network type to from IOT to Standard, but they still show inconsistently show offline.
I have not attempted to move the cameras around, but I have two AP6 Pro access points setup with two of the cameras sitting very close so I have a hard time imagining the issues being a related so signal strength.
Has anyone run into issues with Google Nest cameras or is there any recommendations on what specifically to look for?
Under Settings > System, set the WiFi signal to Raw.
From there, go to Devices and post a screenshot of the signal and rates for the cameras like this:
@Alta-Matt_v2 Image is attached showing the signal for the cameras. At the time that I captured the signal strengths only 2 cameras are currently showing online in the Google Home app wile the other two are still showing offline. In my original post I forgot my wife temporarily took one of the cameras to another address/network so there should be a total of 4 not 5 cameras.
Interesting. Could you try switching the network type to Standard for maybe 5 minutes and check it in the Google Home app prior to switching the network type back to IoT and see if you’re able to more reliably connect to the cameras in the app?
We have many sites with Nest cameras working perfectly fine, so I’m curious to know more about your specific setup. Are you willing to invite me to your site so that I can run some WiFi connectivity tests with your cameras?
First of all thank you for the replies. I am used to waiting 48 hours minimum for feedback so I created the thread while I wasn’t actually prepared to troubleshoot. I am more than happy to add you to my site, but you will have to provide me quick steps on the process. Now that I am back home I did some initial testing outlined below.
I powered off/on all of the cameras so I could rename them in the Alta console to be sure I am providing accurate info.
In this capture 3 of 4 are working and the offline one is marked with a red X. This device is showing a different CH/Port but is using the same AP Link as 2 of the functional ones.
I moved one of the devices that wasn’t working as close to the AP as I could get it without grabbing an extension cord) and it did not come online. While I was testing that the other device that I did not touch came back online so currently 3 of 4 are working and the one that is not working should have good signal.
Just to run extra tests I changed the network type to Large and none of the devices came online except the one that always seems to work and is next to one of the APs.
When I moved it back to IOT this time there was no change and I still h ad only 1 device online so after about 10 minutes I moved it back to standard and saw no change.
I thought repeatedly changing the network type might have caused some hiccups so I tried manually re-adding that device that never worked through the google home app and got a connection error. I then tried one of the devices that worked for most of the testing and it also failed to pair. Through this both devices were still showing in the Alta console.
At this point I am tired so I am calling it a day on testing. I am also realizing that the one device that didn’t work in any of my testing today may just be dead, but I am at least 90% sure it worked before we cutover to the Alta devices. I still have my old router so I can set that back up and test them over there, but that is a lot of steps I was hoping to avoid.
I took a quick look this morning and a second device is now working in Google Home. I also noticed in the Alta console that the 4th device in the list switched APs to 6ProBonus and is now showing worse signal, but that camera is still working and is the one that has consistently worked through all the testing.
You can ignore the device that isn’t showing data. That is the one I moved yesterday for some of the testing. I need a ladder to remount it, so I am leaving it down for now so I can easily access it for any future testing.
Based on your signal strengths and the fact that several of the cameras are on channel 1 (definitely not recommended), I would try to force your cameras to 5 GHz by setting up a special SSID on 5 GHz specifically for the cameras, and make sure that both of your APs are on different 5 GHz channels. The APs aren’t meshed, right?
I crated a second WiFi network and kept all the defaults with the exception of changing Advanced settings > Bands > 5 GHz (default was both). I wasn’t able to get a camera to connect to this WiFi. I changed the type back and forth between standard and IOT and also tried changing the Bands back to Both, but the cameras would not connect.
I removed one of the camera from the Google Home app to see if it would help, but saw no change. At this point I was also unable to rejoin it to my original WiFi network. The light on the camera is flashing blue which I think means its ready top pair. The one idea that came to my mind after I already gave up for the night is to run tests I am using a random cable I had in a closet and not one of the standard cables from google so I may have an issue with insufficient power. Tomorrow I will take down the old cables so I can use the original cables that I know I have seen work and try again. This might be grasping at straws as they still show up in the Alta console when using this cable, but its worth a try.
Honestly at this point I might have a google problem rather than an Alta problem, but I appreciate any advice anyone might have regardless.
Two are first gen and two are second gen. As far as I can tell Google doesn’t let me manually update firmware so I did not verify that. I pulled everything down and assuming things go well this weekend I will set everything up on a new network 1 by 1 right next to an AP so I can get some more clear feedback.
I moved all my equipment to a new location this morning, but was unable to get the access points to connect so I did not further test the cameras. My setup is an S8-POE switch plugged in directly from the ISP and the router they provided is temporarily connected to one of the non POE ports on the switch. I am able to get online using the ISPs WiFi and see switch showing online and logging traffic, but the two AP6-PRO access points are listed with a status of disconnected. These are using the same POE cables I as used in the previous location so I have a hard time imagining both are bad.
I verified the switch ports were still set at default and tried moving the access points between ports on the switch, but saw no change and the switch ports did not light up. I can confirm the ports lit up for uplink and for the temporary WiFi router.
As a further shot in the dark I created a new site and moved everything to the second site again saw no change. I saw the same result when I had the S8-POE switch connected first with the ISPs router plugged into that as when I had it the opposite way with ISPs router plugged in first.
Quick update on the original nest camera issue. It appears to be an issue with older nest equipment and not to do with Alta labs. I moved all my alta equipment to a new location and temporarily put back my previous router and the Nest issues continued.
In the new location my AP6 Pros do not appear to be turning on. I am using the same cables from the original install, but it’s possible I killed them during the moving process. I ordered a new PoE cable from Amazon to further troubleshoot the new location.
While testing the cable is a good play, the bigger question would be what is powering the device. You said your Pros (plural) aren’t turning on. How are they being powered? PoE injector or PoE switch? Can you share the model number of whatever they’re being powered by?
No POE injectors, both APs are powered from an Alta Labs S8-POE switch. I currently have the APs plugged into switch ports 2 and 3, the temporary ISP provided router plugged into port 5 and the data port plugged into port 8.
Neither POE or Link light came on when I plugged in the APs and the light on the AP did not come on.
I just moved the ISP network cable from port 8 top port 1 and verified that the link light came on but not the POE (expected). Ideally its something as simple as the cables going bad from me not being sufficiently careful when moving them, and I will test the new cable as soon as it arrives.
FYI this thread can be closed/archived/other. The issue continued with my old router so it appears to be with the cameras themselves. I moved and have an unrelated issue which support reached out to me and I am working to resolve now.
